Buses shift to Peenya, public yet to get on board

To reduce traffic load on city roads, for 60 bus routes, the terminus was shifted from Majestic to Shree Basaveshwara Bus Station (Peenya Satellite Bus Stand) on Thursday. However, poor publicity led to a poor commuter response. The buses belong to (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation ) KSRTC, North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC).

Connect the spots

The 60 buses that have been shifted run between Bangalore and Mangaluru, Dharmasatala, Davangere, Hassan, Hubballi and other places. Lack of publicity among commuters who use these buses and incomplete facilities remain teething problems still. For instance, there are only two shops open in the new terminus.

KSRTC staff hope to see higher numbers of commuters in 15 days though. However, drivers and conductors are happy with commuters getting in from Jalahalli Cross, Peenya-Dasarahalli and 8th Mile Circle. Saturday saw 46 out of the designated 60 buses plying from the new terminus. The full strength is to be operated from today. About 25 KSRTC staff are working through three shifts at the new stand.

If passenger response improves, more bus routes will be shifted to Shree Basaveshwara Bus Station. To help the commuters reach the new terminus, two mini-buses are connecting it to Jalahalli metro station. Passengers can use these minibuses, which run every 15 minutes from 8am to 8pm, free of charge.

Will traffic improve?

Buses from Majestic pass through Okalipuram, Dr Rajkumar Road and Yeshwanthpur to reach Peenya. Between 6pm and 11pm, these roads see massive traffic. With 60 buses shifting, the load of traffic should ease.

There’s more than one reason to be optimistic. For one, the fare will be cheaper by Rs 10-12 than compared to those from Majestic. Besides, commuters can save an hour by getting on buses from this station.

“Passenger response will decide if more buses can be shifted. However, there is no decision yet on shifting premier and express buses. BMTC bus service will also commence from this station soon. We will publicize the shift in order to help commuters,” said Vishwanath K S, general manager (traffic operations), KSRTC.